On our second day we visited a number of places, we were able to use the trolley and the bus system(which was free) to travel around more easily

Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

The Ships of the Sea Museum is located in the William Scarborough mansion. One of the earliest examples of the Greek revival in Savannah, it’s a beautiful home built for William Scarborough, president of the Savannah Steamship Company, and one of the principal owners of the steamship Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. It was completed 1819. This magnificent mansion soon became a center of Savannah social life and was the focal point of colorful festivities during President James Monroe’s visit that year.

Scarborough lost the home in 1820 after suffering financial setbacks. By 1827 the home back in the hands of the family, and was owned by his daughter, Charlotte Scarborough Taylor. From 1870 to 1876, the house was run as a boys’ orphanage. In 1878, it became the first public school in Savannah. After the school closed in 1962, the house remained vacant for a number of years. The dilapidated mansion was purchased and renovated by the Historic Savannah Foundation. Over $1 million dollars was spent on the renovation. Recognized for its extraordinary architectural and historical significance, the Scarborough House was designated a National historic Landmark in 1974 and opened to the public in 1976. It now houses the Ships of the Sea Museum.

The museum has a large collection of ship models, paintings, and maritime antiques. Some are totally amazing.

The back entrance with it’s garden

Davenport House Museum

The Isaiah Davenport House is a style called Federal-Style architecture. It has a simple but stylish exterior that was constructed of English brick and brownstone and has a showy railing and an attractive double entry stairway.   The interior of the home has been authentically restored and features beautiful woodwork, original plasterwork and a hanging staircase. Filled with furnishings of the period you can get a glimpse of what life was like in Savannah in the 1820s.

Isaiah Davenport was a native of Rhode Island and he arrived in Savannah before 1807 after completing his apprentice as a builder. He soon became known as one of Savannah’s most famous and prosperous builders and built a number of brick houses in the late Georgian and Federal styles, all with high basements because of the dusty unpaved streets of Savannah.

Davenport’s family sold the Davenport house to planter William E. Baynard in 1840, and remained in the hands of that family until 1955. Unfortunately, the house was a run-down tenement building by the 1930’s and was to be destroyed in 1955. Fortunately the historic home was saved and restored in 1962.

Dave & I took a guided tour of this house and the guide also mentioned that it was also a showcase house for Isaiah Davenport to sell this style house. We both liked the stairs.

The Davenport house from the square

Looking up

All hand done wood work

Part of the back garden.

Andrew Low House

Andrew Low was a wealthy merchant who had this home built for him and his first wife in 1848. Sadly, his first wife and their son died before the house was completed, so when Andrew Low moved into the house with his two daughters, he was a devastated widow. He married his second wife 5 years later, and they had three more daughters and a son, and one baby that died in infancy Sadly, his second wife died in 1863 in her early thirties.

The home has 5 bedrooms and a bathroom with an indoor flush toilet and running water! An elaborate rainwater collection system collected water in below the house, where it was manually pumped to a 500 gallon cistern in the attic above the bathroom. That way, if you wanted to draw a bath or wash your hands at the faucet, gravity made it simple!

Andrew Low was friends with Robert E. Lee, and Lee was the godfather of Andrew’s youngest daughter Jessie. He stayed for a week in the house during a visit to Savannah in 1870.The bedroom where Lee stayed during that 1870 visit is now called the Lee Bedroom.

Andrew Low was the father-in-law of Juliette Gordon Low, who married Andrew’s son William Mackay Low in 1886. Juliet Low was the founder of the Girl Scouts , If you were a girl scout like I was, you definitely heard of Juliette, her nickname was Daisy.

Iron fences and gates were everywhere, as mentioned before this was a sign of wealth.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

The original cathedral was constructed in 1799 by the first French colonists to arrive in the area. At the end of the 19th century, the old building was torn down to make room for a larger stone cathedral . It is stunning with the intricate gold-leaf designs, Italian marble altar and stunning stained-glass windows.

People are amazed by its beauty and compare it to Europe’s medieval churches

The stations of the cross are four feet wide and eight feet high, all hand carved from solid walnut

Colonial Park Cemetery

Nearly six acres in size, the cemetery serves as the final resting place for some of Savannah’s earlier residents. The cemetery served as Savannah’s main public cemetery from 1750 to 1853. The Cemetery contains more than 9,000 graves

The oldest intact municipal cemetery in Savannah, this historic cemetery serves as a popular site. Historic markers stand beside a number of graves, describing important people and events contributing to Georgia’s history.

 

That ended our second day, we were pretty tired  ,walked about 5 miles.